Kirsten is an 18-inch tall girl from Sweden who grew up on the American Frontier in 1854!

Unfortunately, after the last 152 years, her elastic has grown a bit weak.

I noticed Kirsten was sitting down a lot more than she used to. "Kirsten," I gently said, "I think you might need restringing." (Many thanks to Taffy Cheerful for the guide!)

"What?!" Kirsten cried.

"It means the elastic that holds you together inside has gotten a little old," I said. "But I can make it better!"

"No!" Kirsten cried, getting to her feet. "I'm plenty tight! Look!"

"Raise your arm higher," I said.

"I don't want to," Kirsten said.

She tried to flee, but I scooped her up and put her on the ironing board...

...look how loose and floppy her legs are!

I sat her back up.

"What happened?" Kirsten asked. "I think I nodded off there."

"I need to restring you, Kirsten," I said.

"Noooo!" Kirsten yelled.

"I spent enough money on the supplies; I'm doing it," I insisted.

Kirsten ran away and hid...

...and would have succeeded, if her legs had been tighter! But they gave out...

...and she fell right down!

"I'm restringing you," I insisted, though Kirsten struggled.

"Don't put me to sleep!" the poor girl cried. "I'm scared! What if I never wake up?"

"You'll be fine, I promise," I said. "But you don't want to
be awake while I restring you. It's kind of violent."

"I can take it!" Kirsten said. "I'm strong!"

We argued for a while, until Mini Nellie cleared her throat.

"Miss Cheap Lady, Miss Big Kirsten?" the little doll said. "Maybe
I could read to Miss Big Kirsten. That might distract her while
you're working, and then you can both be happy."

Kirsten hugged Mini Nellie. "Yeah, let's do that!" she said.

I hesitated. "Well," I said, "as long as you promise to tell me
if it hurts too much. I can just tip you over and put you right
to sleep if you scream, and then you won't feel it. OK?"

"I won't scream!" Kirsten said.

I showed Kirsten all my supplies, so she wouldn't be scared.

"What's the water for?" Kirsten asked. "It's dangerous to get
your dolls wet, you know! Except Mini Kit; she could use a good
dunk."

"It's so I can restring you and not have to stop and get up if I get thirsty," I said.

"And what's the big clear bag for?" Kirsten asked.

I didn't have the heart to tell her it was for her stuffing, so I whispered the only emergency use I could think of.

"Oh. Back where I come from we would've had to go to the outhouse
for that," Kirsten said knowingly. And she settled down while
Mini Nellie started to read...

I was very surprised to find this stuck inside when I started work on Kirsten!

That shows that Kirsten is a very old doll. And very special (though I knew that already.)

There was a long and gory procedure, but I don't think you need to see
it. Once, I thought I heard Kirsten screaming, but it turns out
she was laughing. I've been watching some Futurama DVDs, so Kirsten
very nearly decided to try to recreate that show's head in a jar
effect. Luckily, Mini Nellie kept her in line.

And then Kirsten was all restrung and strong again!

Look how her arms and legs can hold a pose!

"My braids are still floppy," Kirsten said. "Are you going to restring those too?"

I didn't even dignify that with a response.

But look--Kirsten is super-strong now!

Of course, now she can probably bully me into buying her more clothes. Darn it.

(There is a VERY hidden file here called 2veryfloppy.jpg. If you
must see one of Kirsten's peach-colored inside cups, you can probably
locate the file yourself by using your keyboard, but I'm not linking it
because it's very graphic!)